Microsoft Layoffs Stemmed From Cancelled Vancouver Studio Projects

Vancouver's video game industry took another hit when Microsoft decided to shut down two major projects and lay off some of the staff members who worked on them.

Vancouver's video game industry took another hit when Microsoft decided to shut down two major projects and lay off some of the staff members who worked on them.

Kotaku initially reported that Microsoft Studios had "laid off quite a few people" from its Vancouver hub. Then it appeared that Microsoft might have also shut down the entire studio based on a Facebook group that tried to get the word out about the studio's unemployed staff.

Microsoft eventually released a statement that said the studio had not been shut down. Instead, they decided to cancel two titles in development including Microsoft Flight, another title in Microsoft's long running flight simulator series, and a kids' Kinect project called "Project Columbia".

This is just the latest blow to Vancouver's game development community after Capcom announced a 7 percent staff decrease and Rockstar decided to shut down its Vancouver hub to move to Montreal.

Maybe we shouldn't send out our best wishes just to those who have been affected by this latest bit of bad news. Maybe we should extend them to the entire town.